Battle of the Bands

Mad World #BoTB showdown

March 2, 2020 /

The weekends I’m MIA and with the first falling on a Sunday, I didn’t want my battle to interfere with my Songsational Sundays slot for obvious reasons, so I opted to push the showdown off a day.

 At the end of last July, my good pal Alana at Ramblin’ with AM inspired me for today’s battle song when she shared Tears For Fears, Mad World on the 4M dance floor.   

Almost 5-year ago, on June 1 2015, I used Mad World in a showdown and I’m sure I’m not the only BoTBer who’s featured this song in the past, so let’s see where this takes me this time around, shall we?

The lyrics and mewsic is moody, kinda putting me in a bit of melancholy state every time I hear it and the effect of the instrumental arrangements casts the same mindset. Listen to the Cello & Piano duet, the Guitarist, and Violinist

Contender #1 The Brooklyn Duo with Marnie Laird on piano and Patrick Laird on cello.

Contender #2  James Bartholomew on guitar.

Contender #3 Jackie Kay on violin using a Jasmine Thompson backing track. It’s interesting to note that in my 2015 battle, I used Jasmine as one of the contenders and the showdown ended in a tie.

Who gets your vote, Marnie & Patric,  James,  or Jackie?


[tweetthis]I just voted in the ‘Mad World’ #BoTB showdown & you’re invited to play along. #coverbands #instrumental[/tweetthis]

You’ll find more awesome battles underway at some of these blog listed below (not everyone is doing the bi-monthly showdowns now) and if you’d like to be included in the fun, then contact Stephen requesting to be added to the list.

Polls close noon (EST) on the 7th of this month!

The results for this battle will post, a week from today, so be sure to mark your calendar to see if your favorite artist wins this round of Battle of the Bands.

Join me around 6am with ‘name song titles/lyrics‘ spinning on the ole jukebox on the Monday’s Mewsic Moves Me dance floor!

X💋X💋, Cathy



31 Comments

  • Alana Mautone (@RamblinGarden)

    March 7, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    I’m late, but I am going to chime in, anyway (thank you for the shoutout, too). Brooklyn Duo would have been my vote. Having said that, I am intrigued by all three covers being inspired by the Gary Jules cover rather than the Tears for Fears original. Truth to tell, I like the Gary Jules cover better than the original, which will get me drummed out of the Tears for Fears fan club but really, Tears for Fears should have slowed it down. They were trying, I think, to portray the madness more than the sadness. The link to your original BoTB of this song, by the way, did not work for me.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 7, 2020 at 2:37 pm

      Alana,

      Thanks for letting me know the original Mad World BoTB from 2015 didn’t work. I made a change in settings this week and that is why but now it does. I like Gary Jules cover better than Tears for Fears version, too.

  • Kim @ Storms and Stardust

    March 3, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    Cathy,

    MARNIE AND PATRIC get my vote….I really liked the combination of their instruments the best of the three contenders.

    Are you still having trouble leaving a comment with your site url at my place? If so, I am so sorry. I literally have no clue what the issue could be. I know when I leave a comment here, I have to hyperlink my site because for some reason, the fact that I also have a wordpress dot com account in addition to self-hosted, it automatically wants to use my wordpress dot com credentials, which leads to the wordpress dot com page and not my blog. I haven’t figured out a way around that, either.

    Kim

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 4, 2020 at 6:08 am

      Kim,

      It was an accident that I used my WP credentials when I left my comment the other day but honestly I can’t remember if I’m still having problems with my WP sign-in info. I’ll test things out in a few minutes. Thanks for finding time to vote for THE BROOKLYN DUO. 🙂

  • Michael Todd

    March 3, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    Jackie, please, on the violin. That last note made her happy. It made me happy, too.

    Go Team Jackie!

  • Birgit

    March 3, 2020 at 3:14 pm

    Oh this is a toss up but I will go with the Brooklyn Duo because I love the melancholy feel this duo gave. I love Jackie but this seemed more dream like and the song needed the sadness. Her violin is really different looking

  • Debbie D.

    March 3, 2020 at 9:08 am

    This is such a beautiful song! 💗 I enjoyed all three but it was the piano and cello that triggered the strongest reaction. Please give my vote to The Brooklyn Duo.

  • Stephen T. McCarthy

    March 2, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    CAThy! It’s That “Mew”?

    I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song / instrumental before. But widout a shred o’doubt, my “bote” goes to the first “contenduh”: The Brooklyn Duo.

    I mean, seriously, it was just so much richer in sound and melancholia.

    ~ Stephen
    DogGtor of Alcohology &
    King of Inebriation Nation

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 3, 2020 at 6:02 am

      Stephen,

      Yep, yep it’s meeeooow! 🙂 It looks like I didn’t do such a swell job matching these three contenders. Unless things change and honestly I don’t know if it’ll happen then your pick THE BROOKLYN DUO along with five others will win this thang. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.

  • createwithjoy

    March 2, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    Hi Cathy,
    Did you see the 1st episode of Zoe’s Extraordinary Play List? The clip that featured this song was just haunting!
    Great battle choice picks. Like them all but my vote goes to #1 The Brooklyn Duo! 🙂

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 3, 2020 at 5:59 am

      Ramona,

      I haven’t watched any of Zoe’s Extraordinary Play List. I will have to look into now that you’ve brought it to my attention. Do you like it? Thanks for voting for THE BROOKLYN DUO!

      • createwithjoy

        March 3, 2020 at 1:46 pm

        It’s different and offbeat! I’ve only seen the first episode so far. I’ve recorded a few more as I found the concept intriguing and the musical aspects fun, so I will watch another one or two to determine my interest level before making a final decision.

        • createwithjoy

          March 3, 2020 at 1:47 pm

          Oh, if you check it out, I think there is a “pre-season episode” before the season officially starts that sets the scenario for the show – if there is, that’s the one I watched.

  • aisasami

    March 2, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    “Mad World” isn’t my favorite as I love more of the eccentric side of the duo with songs like “Mother’s Talk”. But, I love Jackie Kay’s cover and my vote goes for her! Check out my battle when you have a chance!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 3, 2020 at 5:57 am

      Amy,

      I noticed last night somehow your link wasn’t in my post so I updated it to include. I’m sorry about that, my dear. Thanks for stopping by to vote for JACKIE KAY. I’m heading over to your place to check out your battle contenders.

  • -Eugenia

    March 2, 2020 at 9:02 am

    Wow! This battle is difficult because I like them all. I’m going with The Brooklyn Duo because I love the piano effect.

  • Thomas Anderson

    March 2, 2020 at 6:12 am

    Hi, Cathy!

    Happy month of March, dear friend! Can the April A-2-Z be far behind? 🙂 For this band battle you picked three great instrumental performances of “Mad World.” I like them all, and that made it difficult to name a favorite. I finally narrowed the field down to entry #1 and entry #3 because I get more of a visceral response from piano, cello and violin, and I think those instruments more effectively convey the mood of the song. Seeing as how Jackie Kay borrowed a preexisting backing track for her violin performance, I am voting for Brooklyn Duo because they generated all the mewsic themselves. Marnie’s light tinkling of the piano keys is ideal for the composition and Patrick’s cello gently weeps. It’s a wonderful performance by the talented pair and I give them my vote.

    Have a tunetastic week, dear friend Cathy!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 2, 2020 at 9:21 am

      Tom,

      Greetings, my friend! Thanks for joining me today for my first BoTB this month and for going with THE BROOKLYN DUO in this round. I couldn’t agree with you more about them being a talented pair. They are marvelous together!

  • Mary B

    March 2, 2020 at 12:28 am

    Hi Cathy!

    I’ve always liked this melancholy tune. I’m a little torn right now between which version I like best. I really think the violin and cello are very well suited for this one. And now I have to choose? hmmmm.

    Okay. I’ve given a few listens now. I’m voting for the Brooklyn Duo. It just spoke to me a little bit more. hope you are well. I’m dealing with pneumonia that I hope goes away quickly.

    ~Mary

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 2, 2020 at 5:54 am

      Mary,

      I saw your post on Facebook that you have pneumonia. I was sorry to read about the news. What a bummer! I hope it clears up quickly. I remember when I was in the hospital in 2013 I had to use this breathing tube thingy to exercise my lungs to prevent pneumonia from setting in due to my inactivity. I don’t know that I had it but it sure was difficult to breathe in that thing. I’m saying prayers for your body to rid itself of the pneumonia and for you to be on the road to good health on all levels.

      Thanks for stopping by to listen to my battle artists and for voting for The BROOKLYN DUO, my dear.

    • Cherdo

      March 2, 2020 at 8:26 am

      Wow, great song and great match up…too great! I’m having a hard time!

      I guess my string obsession is in overdrive…lions and tigers and bears…and cellos and guitars and violins!!

      Give my vote to JACKIE today. Nice, nice battle!

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